Apparently I am behind the times on this one. Last year, the Center for Environmental Health tested the Medela Cooler Carrier and found traces of lead. I was less than thrilled to hear about this since I have been carrying my daughter’s organic milk in it to daycare for the last 2 years and used it to carry the breast milk I pumped for her at work for over a year.

Medela believes the coolers are safe and lead free, but, being the great company they are, are gladly replacing them if you are concerned. So mine is on its way back to Medela. The downside is it takes 6 weeks to receive the replacement and since I am pumping now for my 4 month old son, I needed something now.

So I went to www.reusablebags.com where this is a selection of lead-free bags. I got a Munchler’s lunch backback for my daughter to carry her milk – CUTE!!!! She will be able to use this bag for a long time. Very cute and durable. It’s a backpack style, so she can easily put it on and carry it. Highly recommend.

For my son I purchased an ACME lunch bag which works perfectly for baby bottles, much better than the likely lead-tainted freebies that you get in the hospital. I got a second one in another color that I use to carry the pumped milk. It’s a little big for that purpose, but I will be able to use the bag for lunches or otherwise when I am done pumping, which is what I wanted anyway.

Check all your milk, bottle and lunch cooler bags. Many are made of vinyl/PVC and likely contain lead. There are many very cute, lead free options available, so why risk lead exposure?

Even though the food or milk may not come in direct contact with the bag, contamination is still probable since you touch the bag, then your food, your breast pump parts, whatever the case may be.

Click here to find out if your Medela cooler is affected and if so how to return your Medela Cooler for a refund or replacement.

By Janelle Sorensen
(Thanks to Janelle for her permission to re-post this article.)

I, like many others, have lost track of all the food recalls that have happened in the last 18 months. Pot pies, pizzas, peanuts, tomatoes, egg rolls, spices, flour, and more. The number of illnesses and the amount of food thrown away is staggering.

Fortunately, none of the tainted foods have impacted my kitchen. Our culinary choices thus far have been safe. But, my faith in the FDA, who I once relied on as an invisible guardian watching over my plate, has been shattered. My optimistically naïve belief that food, of all things, should be safe, has gone the way of childhood beliefs in Santa and the Easter Bunny. And, I’m not just being dramatic – here’s why:

According to an article in the New York Times, “increasingly, the corporations that supply Americans with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients…companies do not even know who is supplying their ingredients, let alone if those suppliers are screening the items for microbes and other potential dangers…”

They don’t know where the ingredients are coming from? Seriously??

Commence paranoia.

Not only are many major manufacturers openly admitting that they’re pretty clueless about what’s in their food, instead of owning up to their mistakes, they’re placing the burden for safety on the consumer. We are now responsible for what’s called “the kill step,” and it’s not clear what that entails. Some companies are resorting to detailed diagrams and “food safety” guides outlining how to heat foods in a microwave and then check the temperature in several locations with a food thermometer. Others advise against using a microwave altogether. Frozen convenience foods suddenly seem very inconvenient.

Even if simply educating people to warm food to an adequate temperature was a reasonable solution, which it’s not, it wouldn’t address non-pathogenic contaminants like the arsenic found in a huge variety of processed foods around the globe a few months back.

What’s a mother to do? I’ve been a loud proponent for whole foods, local and organic when possible, for many years now, but I still have some processed foods in my pantry. I mean, who really makes things like crackers and cereal from scratch? I also buy a lot of frozen veggies – and I’ve never checked to see if I’ve warmed them to 165 degrees.

Clearly, we have problem on our hands. What do you think should be done? Do you think food safety is up to the consumer? Do you think it’s up to the government? What if safer food meant it cost a bit more? Are you willing to pay?

Stonyfield Farm is voluntarilly recalling some of its 32 oz Plain Fat Free Yogurt. After receiving reports of a “funny taste” they determined that the food grade sanitizer used to clean the equipment was not properly rinsed away. No illnesses have been reported, however, Stonyfield decided to take immediate action.

Look at the time stamp on your Stonyfield 32 oz Plain Fat Free yogurt container and take it back to the store for a full refund if your yogurt has:
May 06 09 22 timestamp 22:17 through 23:59
May 07 09 all time stamps

Visit their websitefor more information. The recall info is on the homepage.

The FDA is warning people not to eat any products containing peanut butter because of a salmonella outbreak. Officials say the major brands of peanut butter, sold in jars and plastic containers are not a problem.

Nearly 500 people have gotten sick from salmonella poisoning in 43 states. The contamination may also be linked to six deaths.

The FDA has created a searchable database for the recalled products. It seems like the list will continue to grow, so it would be wise to check it before consuming any peanut butter containing foods.

Here is a list of the products so far recalled:

Peanut Corporation of America, King Nut and Parnell’s Pride
Several King Nut and Parnell’s Pride-branded peanut butter products and peanut butter paste made by Peanut Corporation of America have been recalled. These products were sold to institutions and food processors, not retailers.

The original recall, announced Jan. 9, was expanded several times — on Jan. 13, Jan. 16 and again on Jan. 18. The following is an updated list of all products associated with the company’s recalls:

For information on Peanut Corporation of America-related recalls, call 1-877-564-7080 or visit www.peanutcorp.com.

Kellogg’s, Keebler, Austin and Famous Amos cookies, crackers and snacks
On Jan. 16, Kellogg recalled several Austin-, Keebler- and Famous Amos-brand cookies, crackers and snacks. People should destroy the following snacks, all produced after July 1, 2008, and seek a refund from Kellogg Consumer Response Center at 877-869-5633.

City Line distributorsOn Jan. 16, another tub of King Nut peanut butter was found to be contaminated with salmonella, this time at City Line distributors, in New Haven, Conn. It was the first unopened tub of peanut butter to show contamination, convincing officials that they had identified the source. The distributor had already sent possibly contaminated peanut butter to Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Hy-Vee cookies, party mixes and fudge
On Jan. 17, Hy-Vee Inc., of Des Moines, Iowa, recalled cookies, party mix and fudge because those products may be contaminated with the bad peanut butter. The products recalled, including products with all “sell-by dates” sold at Hy-Vee stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota, include:

McKee Foods’ Little Debbie brand sandwich crackers
On Jan. 18, McKee Food Corp. announced the recall of two Little Debbie products, both of which were manufactured after July 1, 2008, and both of which are manufactured by the Kellogg Company, which has previously announced recalls associated with its use of Peanut Corporation of America peanut paste:

Little Debbie Peanut Butter Toasty sandwich crackers — all sizes.
Little Debbie Peanut Butter Cheese sandwich crackers — all sizes.
Consumers who have purchased the recalled products are urged to discard the crackers but retain the freshness code and contact the company’s Consumer Affairs at 1-800-522-4499. The FDA press release on this recall did not specify whether or not the company is offering a refund.

South Bend Chocolate Company and retail brand chocolates
Also Jan. 18, the South Bend Chocolate Company, of South Bend, Ind., recalled several chocolate products, produced under its own brand and for other unspecified retailers after July 1, 2008:

South Bend Chocolate Company Assorted chocolates: 5 ounce (Product 121)
South Bend Chocolate Company Assorted chocolates: 8 ounce box (Product 122)
South Bend Chocolate Company Assorted chocolates: 12 ounce box (Product 123)
South Bend Chocolate Company Assorted chocolates: 26 ounce box (Product 124)
South Bend Chocolate Company Hoosiers 5 ounce (Product 010, UPC# 4482300011)
South Bend Chocolate Company Hoosiers 3.5 ounce (Product o11, UPC# 4482300010)
South Bend Chocolate Company Valentine Heart, 14 ounces (Product 1020)
The following recalled chocolates were sold to retail stores in bulk for sales of of smaller quantities directly to customers. (TDG note: It’s not clear how customers can distinguish these products from those from other manufacturers without asking the retailer who its supplier is.)

Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase. For information, contact The South Bend Chocolate Company at 574-233-2577.

Ralcorp, Lofthouse, Food Lion, Parco Foods’, Chuck’s Chunky, Pastries Plus and Wal-Mart peanut butter cookiesAlso Jan. 18, Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products recalled several products sold at its Food Lion stores because the products were made with peanut products from Peanut Corporation of America. All products will have a lot code of 9200 or less.

Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in 48-ounce containers with a “Sell by” date of 9-13-2009 under the following UPC Code Number: 0001111054437.
Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in 56-ounce containers with a “Sell by” date of 8-11-2009 under the following UPC Code Number: 0001111052816.
Consumers can return the product to the store of purchase for refund or replacement. For more information, contact Kroger toll-free at (800) 632-6900 or www.kroger.com/recalls.

Consumers should save the “Best By/Sell By” code found on the back of the package and seek a refund by contacting Clif Bar & Company at 1-800-CLIFBAR (1-800-254-3227). For more information, visit www.clifbar.com.

Some Mylicon Infant Gas Drops have been recalled due to metal fragments being found in the product. Two lots are affected. Click here to go to the Johnson & Johnson page with all the recall information.

I am expecting in 5 weeks and all these crib and bassinet recalls are pretty unsettling. Please check the www.cpsc.gov website to make sure you do not have a crib of bassinet affected by any of these recalls.

Federal regulators announced the recall today of 1.6 million drop-side cribs following the death of an infant.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says an 8-month-old baby “became entrapped and suffocated when the drop side of the crib detached in a reassembled crib where the safety pegs were not installed.”

Other children were trapped because of the defect, the agency says.

The recall includes 985,000 Delta Enterprise cribs that were manufactured in Taiwan or Indonesia and have the ‘“Crib Trigger Lock with Safety Peg” drop side hardware design.”

“The recalled cribs have date codes ranging from 1995 though December 2005 and one model (4624) was made in 2007,” the CPSC announcement says. “The model numbers are located on the top of the mattress support board.”

“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Jack Gutt, a spokesman for New York-based Delta Enterprise, tells the Associated Press. “Anyone who calls and has these cribs that were constructed in these time periods, we’re going to send anybody and everybody either additional safety pegs or the retrofit kit.”